Singer John Legend referenced The New Jim Crow in accepting his Oscar for best original song “Glory” from the “Selma” movie soundtrack. Noting that “we live in the most incarcerated country in the world,” he cited a statistic first put forth by Alexander in her book: “There are more black men under correctional control today than there were under slavery in 1850.”

Dubbed the “secular bible of a new social movement” by Cornel West, The New Jim Crow has spent a total of 119 weeks on The New York Times paperback nonfiction bestseller list, where it first appeared in 2012, reappeared through much of 2013 and 2014, and where it has remained since the beginning of 2015. It will be #8 the week of March 29th. It also continues to appear on regional bestseller lists across the country.